Mayors, council members, commissioners join state legislators who support limiting no-cause evictions

Salem, Ore. – As the legislature enters its final full week, local elected officials across the state, including mayors, city councilors, county commissioners, and school board members are urging lawmakers not to leave Salem without passing legislation to help keep families in their homes and reduce homelessness amidst a statewide housing crisis. Over 40 officials sent the joint letter to Senate President Peter Courtney, who has so far refused to let the bill move to the Senate Floor for a full vote after it was approved by the Senate Rules Committee. Also copied on the letter were other members of the Senate leadership.

Read the full letter:

July 4, 2017

All Oregon State Senators900 Court St. NESalem Oregon 97301

Dear Esteemed Colleagues of the Oregon State Senate:

We are writing to urge your support of HB 2004-C, which will limit no-cause evictions and provide basic fairness and stability to the forty percent of Oregon’s residents who live in rental housing.

As state and local elected officials, the most urgent issue we continually hear about from constituents -- at town hall meetings, in letters and phone calls, and in everyday conversations -- is that our families need relief and security in their struggle to keep a safe, stable place to call home.

Clearly, Oregon is experiencing an affordable housing crisis, with renters bearing the burden of a booming market that gives great power to those who own and control property. Thousands of families have had their lives completely up-ended by massive rent increases and no-cause evictions, and many have been pushed into homelessness. Without this bill, landlords will continue to be able to use no-cause evictions to discriminate or retaliate against families of color, those with disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, and tenants who simply ask their landlord to make legally required repairs. According to the Portland Housing Bureau Housing Choice Survey, sixteen percent of households in the Portland tri-county area were forced to move, against their wishes, within the last five years. We also know that the average African American, Native, and Latino household can no longer afford to live within Portland city limits without being severely cost burdened. The ripple effects of this housing insecurity and displacement extend to our places of worship, neighborhoods and schools.

HB 2004-C will not prevent landlords from evicting tenants who violate the terms of their rental agreements, however, it will protect families from losing their homes through no fault of their own. Tens of thousands of families are looking to us to respond decisively to the housing crisis as we face a reality where some investors and landlords are profiteering with impunity, while vulnerable families and children suffer the burden.

Please do not leave Salem without taking this simple, common-sense step to protect our families, and pass HB 2004-C. Oregon’s renters deserve the basic right of housing stability.